While Helton said her serve was far from perfect, it didn’t stop her from winning her second consecutive district title. Helton beat Moberly’s Amber Morris (6-0, 6-1), Marshall’s Amanda Harrelson (6-1, 6-0) and Moberly’s Katie Matheis (6-1, 6-1) to win the title.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Helton said. “I’ve been working on my serve, it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, but it worked out well enough for me to advance on.”

Helton will play a sectional match against the Barat Academy’s Jennifer Fabian Tuesday in Marshall at 4:30 p.m. Her win extended Kirksville’s streak of eight consecutive individual champions.

Kirksville tennis coach Steve Smith said what separates Helton from the other players in the Lady Tigers’ run of district champions is her placement.

“What is different about her than the others is she has lot of touch,” Smith said. “She can hit spots on the court really well. She can place the ball better than a whole bunch of kids and her serve has improved some this year from last year. Her ability to get the ball away from the other person when they close in on the net is unusually good.”

During the regular season, Helton went 16-4 in individual matches and finished in third place at the North Central Missouri Conference Tournament and second at the Hannibal Tournament. Kirksville finished the regular season with a 13-2 team record before the Lady Tigers fell to eventual district champion Moberly in the Class 1, District 8 team tournament.

After winning district and sectional titles last season, Helton went 2-2 in the state tournament and fell one round short of medaling.

­­Getting that experience was invaluable, Helton said.

“I think last year I learned how tough the competition gets when you move from playing more locally to playing everyone across the state,” Helton said. “I’ll be more prepared knowing how steep the competition is. I need to step up as soon as I arrive.”

Helton’s goals for the rest of the season are modest.

“I just want to go out and do my best,” Helton said. “It would be nice to medal, but whatever happens, happens.”